Container closure having pressure relieving means



July 21, 1964 s. WETTEREK CONTAINER CLOSURE HAVING PRESSURE RELIEZVING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 1962 l INVENTOR: -fg Wetterex OLJAMM ATTO KNEBS July 2 1 s. WETTEREK 3,141,586

CONTAINER CLOSURE HAVING PRESSURE RELIEVING MEANS Filed Sept. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LNVENTOR:

51:59 la/dtt/ek w d ggiur ATTQ RN E5 5 United States Patent C) 3,141,586 CGNTAHNER CLOURE HAVING ERESSURE RELEEVING MEANS Stig Wetterek, Muilsio, Sweden, assignor t Aktiebolaget .ltinkiipings Vacuumindustri, .lonkoping, Sweden, a firm of Sweden Filed Sept. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 224,945 Claims priority, application Sweden May 25, 1962 9 Qlaims. (Cl. 222-476) The present invention relates to a closure device for a container for a liquid under pressure, for example, for carbonated or hot beverages.

When opening one of the conventional closures of such a container in order to permit a liquid to be poured therefrom, gas as well as liquid escape and are sprayed from the container. This is a well-known disadvantage of most of the known closure devices, and especially bottle closures.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a closure device which overcomes this disadvantage and which comprises a valve for a bottle or other container which permits the container to be opened gradually or in steps. According to the invention, the valve is designed so that, when it is in the sealing position, a sealing part on the valve is applied tightly upon a sealing surface on the mouth of the container while outwardly of the first sealing part of the valve the latter is provided with a further sealing part and with an expansion chamber between the two sealing parts. The two sealing parts of the valve are preferably designed with respect to each other so that, when the valve is first only opened to a certain extent, the inner sealing part opens, while the outer sealing part which defines the expansion chamber remains closed. The outer sealing part is preferably made resilient so that, in the event that the pressure in the expansion chamber exceeds a certain value, this sealing part will open to release the excess pressure. The outer sealing part is preferably made in the form of a lip which encloses the expansion chamber and cooperates with a sealing surface on the container.

Although the sealing surfaces on the container as well as the means for holding the valve on the container may be integral parts of the container, this requires a rather expensive container construction. The invention therefore further provides a socketlike ring which is provided with the required sealing surfaces and valve holding means and which may be applied over and secured to the mouth of the container so as to envelop the same at the inner and outer sides thereof.

The means for tightening the valve on the container and for releasing it therefrom preferably consists of a plugshaped member which is rigidly secured to or integral with the valve and is provided with an outer screw thread. This plug-shaped member may be inserted into the socketlike ring and screwed into an inner screw thread thereof.

The above-mentioned as well as further features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 shows a vertical section of the closure de vice according to the invention in the closed position;

FIGURE 2 shows the same sectional view as FIGURE 1, but with the closure device in the half-open position; while FIGURE 3 shows the same sectional view as FIGURE 1, but with the closure device in the fully open position.

As illustrated in the drawings, the closure device according to the invention consists of a screw plug 1 which is screwed into an annular socketlike member 2 of plastic or a similar material which, in turn, is fitted over and 3,141,586 Patented July 21, 1964 ice secured to the mouth 3 of a bottle or similar container so as to envelop and adhere to both sides thereof. The actual plug portion 4 of the screw plug 1 is provided with an outer screw thread and with a slot 5 extending transverse to the thread. This plug portion 4 is secured to a disk 6 of plastic or a similar material which is provided with an inclined sealing surface 7 which cooperates with a corresponding surface 8 which forms a part of the upper surface of the annular socket 2. The peripheral edge portion of disk 6 outwardly of the sealing surface 7 forms an annular hollow bulge 9, the outer part of which forms an annular lip 10 which in the position as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2 engages upon the upper surface 11 of socket 2. Bulge 9 and lip 10 form together with the surface 11 of socket 2 an expansion chamber 12. On its outer side, bulge 9 is provided with an annular bead 13 which engages into a cap 14 which serves as a knob for turning the screw plug by hand and which is preferably provided with a knurling to permit the plug to be more firmly gripped.

When plug 1 is screwed downwardly to its lowest position, as shown in FIGURE 1, the sealing surfaces 7 and 8 are in a tight sealing engagement in the same manner as the lip 10 on the surface 11. If the plug is then unscrewed, the sealing surfaces 7 and 8 are slowly separated so that a gas or liquid under pressure can flow from the inside of the container 3 through the slot 5 into the expansion chamber 12.

After a first expansion, the liquid will flow back from chamber 12 into the container. If plug 1 is further unscrewed, lip 19 will finally disengage from the surface 11 so that the remaining excess gas pressure can escape to the outside without, however, taking along any liquid. If the container is then inclined, the liquid may be freely poured from the container by flowing through slot 5 and through the gap between the upper surfaces 8, 11 of socket 2 and surface 7 and lip 10 of the plug. This flow is controlled by being partly restrained by the wall of bulge 9 and lip 10, as shown by the arrows at the left part of FIGURE 3, and it therefore proceeds steadily. As indicated by the arrows at the right side of FIGURE 3, the outer air can at the same time flow toward the inside of the container through the opposite gap between lip 10 and surface 11 which during the pouring are tilted upwardly, and through the part of slot 5 which then faces upwardly. Actual tests have shown that there is no need for ever unscrewing the plug entirely from the container in order to pour a liquid thereform. Lip 10 is made so resilient that, in the event of an exceptionally high pressure in the expansion chamber 12, it will yield resiliently from the surface 11 and allow the excess pressure to escape. An important feature of this plug when applied to a thermos bottle is also the fact that the expansion chamber 12 as well as the inner part 4 of the plug serve as a heat insulation.

In some cases it may be advisable to provide the annular socket 2 with channels 15 which terminate at the sealing surfaces 7, 8, as indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2 in dotted lines, for allowing the liquid to be poured from the container. Slot 5 in plug 1 may then be omitted.

The associated screw threads on the plug and on the annular socket 2 may be designed and arranged in various manners. For example, they may be provided on the outside of the plug and socket. The invention is also not limited to screw plugs but it is also possible to provide an arrangement in which the plug may be moved in a straight axial direction to the opening and closing positions. The annular socket 2 may also be designed or provided with a spout. If the neck of the bottle is made of a special shape so that the plug may be directly connected thereto, the annular socket may, of course, be omitted. The invention is also not limited to its application to containers n2 for carbonated and vapor-generating liquids, and a plug according to the invention may also be used to great advantage in such cases where a very strong sealing effect has to be insured.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described With reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim l. A closure device for a container having an opening and a neck enclosing said opening, said device comprising an annular body fitted upon the top of said neck and having at least two annular sealing surfaces at different radial distances from said opening, a valve member having at least two annular sealing portions radially spaced from each other and adapted to engage said sealing surfaces, said valve member having an annular cavity between said annular sealing portions which is adapted to be closed by pressing said sealing portions against said sealing surfaces, means connecting said valve member to said annular body and manually operable means connected with said valve member for lifting the sealing portions thereof off the corresponding sealing surfaces by a step-by-step movement.

2. A closure device for a container having an opening and a neck enclosing said opening, said device comprising an annular body mounted upon said neck and having at least two annular sealing surfaces at different radial distances from said opening, a valve member having an inner and an outer sealing portions radially spaced from each other and adapted to engage said sealing surfaces to seal said container, said valve member having an expansion chamber intermediate said two sealing portions, said outer sealing portion being resilient and spaced at a shorter distance from said sealing surfaces than said inner sealing portion when said valve member is moved to the fully open position, whereby when said valve member is moved only to a partly open position, said inner sealing portion is lifted off said sealing surfaces While said outer sealing portion still remains in sealing engagement with a sealing surface.

3. A closure device in accordance with claim 2, in which said outer resilient sealing portion forms at least a part of the outer wall of said expansion chamber and serves as a safety valve having a resilience such that, when said valve member is moved to said partly open position and the pressure in said expansion chamber exceeds a certain value, said outer sealing part will yield and permit the excess pressure to escape to the outside.

4. A closure device for a container having an opening and a threaded neck enclosing said opening, said device comprising an annular body mounted upon said neck and having at least one sealing surface adjacent to said opening, a valve element having a first plug-shaped member with an outer screw thread thereon adapted to be screwed into and at least partly out of said threaded neck, and a second member secured to the upper end of said first member and having an inner and an outer sealing part thereon spaced at different radial distances from said first member and adapted to be engaged with said sealing surface to seal said container toward the outside when said first member is screwed tightly into said container neck, an expansion chamber intermediate said two sealing parts, said outer sealing part being resilient and forming at least a part of the outer wall of said expansion chamber and being spaced at a smaller distance from said sealing surface than said inner sealing part when said first member is sufficiently unscrewed to place said valve element in the fully open position, whereby when said valve element is first moved from the fully closed position to a partly open position, said inner sealing part is lifted off said sealing surface while said outer sealing part still remains in seming engagement with said sealing surface, and a channel communicating between the inside of said container and the gap formed between said inner sealing part and said sealing surface when said valve element is at least partly opened.

5. A closure device for a container having an opening, said device comprising an annular member adapted to be applied over and secured to the wall of said opening and to enclose said wall at both sides thereof, said member having an inner screw thread and at least One sealing surface at the upper side of said member, a valve element having a first plug-shaped member with an outer screw thread thereon adapted to be screwed into and at least partly out of said inner screw thread, and a second member secured to the upper end of said plug-shaped member and having an inner and an outer sealing part thereon spaced at different radial distances from said plugshaped member and adapted to be engaged with said sealing surface to seal said container toward the outside when said plug-shaped member is screwed tightly into said annular member, an expansion chamber intermediate said two sealing parts, said outer sealing part being resilient from said sealing surface than said inner sealing part when said plug-shaped member is sufficiently unscrewed to place said valve element in the fully open position, so that when said valve element is first moved from the fully closed position to a partly open position, said inner sealing part is lifted off said sealing surface while said outer sealing part still remains in sealing engagement with said sealing surface, and a channel communicating between the inside of said container and the gap formed between said inner sealing part and said sealing surface when said valve element is at least partly opened.

6. A closure device as defined in claim 5, in which said channel forms a slot in said plug-shaped member and traversing said outer screw thread on said member.

7. A closure device as defined in claim 5, in which said channel is provided in said annular member.

8. A closure device as defined in claim 5, in which said second member forms a valve disk having a relatively solid central part secured to said first plug-shaped member and being of a larger diameter than said plug-shaped member and having said inner sealing part disposed radially outwardly of said first member, said valve disk outwardly of said inner sealing part forming an annular bulge, the wall of said bulge together with a part of said sealing surface defining said expansion chamber and terminating into said resilient outer-sealing part.

9. A closure device as defined in claim 8, in which said outer sealing part forms an annular lip having such a resilience that, when said valve element is moved tosaid partly open position and said lip is then still in sealing engagement with said sealing surface and if an excessive pressure coming from said container and passing through the gap formed between said inner sealing part and said sealing surface is then built up in said expansion chamber, said lip will yield and permit said excessive pressure to escape to the outside.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Glass Dec. 11, 1928 

1. A CLOSURE DEVICE FOR A CONTAINER HAVING AN OPENING AND A NECK ENCLOSING SAID OPENING, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING AN ANNULAR BODY FITTED UPON THE TOP OF SAID NECK AND HAVING AT LEAST TWO ANNULAR SEALING SURFACES AT DIFFERENT RADIAL DISTANCES FROM SAID OPENING, A VALVE MEMBER HAVING AT LEAST TWO ANNULAR SEALING PORTIONS RADIALLY SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID SEALING SURFACES, SAID VALVE MEMBER HAVING AN ANNULAR CAVITY BETWEEN SAID ANNULAR SEALING PORTIONS WHICH IS ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED BY PRESSING SAID SEALING PORTIONS AGAINST SAID SEALING SURFACES, MEANS CONNECTING SAID VALVE MEMBER TO SAID ANNULAR BODY AND MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID VALVE MEMBER FOR LIFTING THE SEALING PORTIONS THEREOF OFF THE CORRESPONDING SEALING SURFACES BY A STEP-BY-STEP MOVEMENT. 